Spring Troubles
by FreddyJasonV
Summary: Michelle and her friends are in charge of the Spring Dance. But when a party crasher turns things upside down, they realize that their lives are at the mercy of their own fear....


Michelle bounced in her seat excitedly. Her friends, Kathy, Tiffany, and Ryan, sat behind, beside and in front of her. _Hell, admit it, _she thought. They were all excited. It was the yearly Spring Fling Dance. And they were in charge!

"Hey, you guys see that?" Ryan asked.

The girls stared. "See what?"

"The pterodactyl!" Ryan snickered, and they threw their books at him. He threw them back, keeping Michelle's book.

"Hey, give it back, Ryan!" she warned.

Ryan looked at it. "Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King? Girl, this isn't a girly-girl book. It's for men!"

With this said, he was suddenly buried beneath their bookbags. Michelle snatched her book back as he sat up, sliding Kathy's bag off.

"You're such an idiot," she teased.

"Ha, but I'm _your_ idiot," he replied, pulling out his sketchpad. The girls crowded around.

"Ooh, whatcha drawing now, Ryan?" Tiffany peered curiously over the seat at him and he held it up for her to see. "Ooh, a dragon!" Ryan chuckled as his friends groaned. Is that all that interested her these days?

"Sit down, you kids!" the bus driver up front shouted. "It's bad enough that I don't get paid enough for thi–SIT THE FUCK DOWN!"

The teens glanced at each other. No one had been standing after his first yell, so who...

"Ah, shove it up your ass, shithead," Eddie yelled back, flopping down beside Ryan. The bus driver glared at them in the mirror, then turned back to the road. _Damn kids with their damn remarks..._

Something black suddenly shot over the asphalt and the driver hit the brakes. The bus slid a few feet, then stopped as they peered out the windows intently. The thing was gone, whatever it had been. The driver muttered angrily about "stupid hawks chasing stupid rabbits over the stupid road", pulling into drive again.

"What was that?" Kathy asked, still looking out the window.

"Dunno, but who cares? Let's party!" Eddie yelled, pumping his fist into the air. Kathy slowly turned away from the window at last, still curious about that creature. What could it have been?

"Great job, you kids," Mr. Corbin beamed, looking around. Streamers, balloons, tables, and snacks had been set up professionally all over the gym room. "You kids did a great job. All we have to do now is bar off any other hall that the higher grades and any other pervert that might try something. Help me with the gates, kids."

The teens set to work with the gates, rolling them over to the hallways and locking them into place. After a few minutes, all the hallways had blocked off.

"Don't worry, Mr. Corbin," Ryan told his teacher. "We'll get the music set up before heading home. You can go, Frank."

Mr. Corbin clapped his shoulder. "Thanks again, kids. I'll see you tomorrow in Science." They waved good-bye as he walked out the front doors onto the sidewalk. He sighed and took a few steps towards the street.

_Flap._

"Someone there?" Frank stared into the darkness, trying to make out the dark shadows. He took a few more steps and stopped again; the trees were creaking eerily in the spring wind, masking all other sounds.

A man, silhouetted in the moonlight, stepped out onto the street and began to walk away. Frank blinked and followed; who was it? Was it one of the kids? He couldn't tell because of the blasted moon. He followed the figure at a distance, and it disappeared behind the tree line. Frank stopped and shook his head; if they wanted to go in there, fine, but he wasn't about to. He turned to leave.

Sharp talons sank into his shoulder, and as he looked wildly to the side, a giant wing unfurled, as did one on his other side. They spread, stretching to an impossible length, and flapped. He realized it was the same sound he'd heard a few minutes ago as he began to rise. _Why, I'm flying!_ he thought. As he rose, he could feel the talons sinking into his shoulders even deeper, as if to hold onto him better. The ground disappeared as he suddenly hurtled upwards, and the wings flapped around him evenly, hauling him away into the night.

"That just about does it," Michelle said, lowering the banner a little to the right and pinning it.

"We're finally done." She glanced at the clock. "And it's not even 8:00 yet."

"Yeah, we made great timing," Eddie yawned, sliding down the ladder.

They began to pack up, throwing their backpacks onto their shoulders and walking casually out the door.

"So, you guys going to the dance?" Tiffany asked.

"I'm going, " said Ryan.

"Me too," Eddie and Kathy agreed in unison. They looked at each other, then at Michelle. She shrugged.

"I dunno... I'm not really a dance person."

"But you gotta!" Tiffany protested. "It won't be any fun without you!" Michelle looked at them and sighed.

"I'll think about it." Her friends gave her a look and they split at the end of the sidewalk. Eddie left for Maple Street, Kathy and Tiff down Crystal, and Michelle was left with Ryan.

"You gotta come," he pleaded, walking alongside her, "then we'll be able to rock the school!" They stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change.

"Oh...fine!" Michelle finally agreed. Ryan pumped his fist into the air.

"All right!" he yelled. "See ya tomorrow night then!" He raced down Cedar, whooping in excitement. Michelle's face saddened and she slowly trudged down Elm, off to home, off in her own little world. She froze suddenly, coming out of her thoughts. Something didn't feel right; it felt like... she was being watched. Absently, she looked over her shoulder and looked around her. Nothing and no one to be seen.

Biting her lip, she turned and began walking again. She turned suddenly, suspicious, yet curious. Her blood turned to ice. Someone WAS watching her, standing on the other side of the street. She began to back away down the sidewalk, keeping her eyes on the figure. It never moved, and she was positive the thing was staring at her. There was nothing else to look at! She broke into a dead-run, sprinting down the street, never looking back.

She hit her doorstep in a few minutes, out of breath. She rammed the door with her shoulder, forcing it open and slamming it shut. Panting, she leaned against the door, dropping her bag.

"Honey? That you?" Her mother stepped into the doorway to the kitchen, mixing something. She looked at her daughter anxiously. "You alright?"

Michelle stared back, gasping for air, finally finding her voice. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just got spooked a little, that's all." Her mother eyes her, nodding, then returned to the kitchen. Michelle closed her eyes, letting out a deep sigh. She glanced at the clock before stomping up the stairs to her room. Opening the door, she barely made it inside and collapsed onto her bed, already asleep.

"Michelle, wake up! Time for school!" Her mother's voice buzzed her head like an alarm clock as she groaned, slowly opening her eyes. She grumbled, sitting up and nearly falling over again. She muttered, catching her balance and stretching. Yawning, she stood and slipped into new clothes, picking up her bag and marching down the stairs. "You okay, Michelle? You look tired..."

_Yawn..._ "No. I'm fine. Just slept kind of heavy." She grabbed an apple and marched out the door to her bus stop. Munching on her breakfast, she waited for her ride to show. Yawning, she started as a large shadow flitted over her. She blinked and looked skyward. A flock of black birds were making their way downtown. She watched them without interest, but out of boredom. Maybe they were going to the cemetery. Loads of ravens and crows hung out there often... She jumped again as a horn honked and blinked, looking over. The bus had pulled up and the driver was motioning for her to get on. She quickly raced around the front, hopping on and taking her seat.

As Michelle slumped in her seat as they drove off, someone tapped her on the head. She grumbled, sitting up and turning around. Eddie thrust a new article in her face.

"Did you hear?" he asked quickly.

"Hear what?" she mumbled, taking the article.

"Adam Flint's dead! The police were combing the area last night."

"Wait, wait, wait. What happened?" She starting reading the article instead of glancing over it. Looking around and tuning in, she could hear the other students talking about the accident.

"Police reports say that he was driving alone last night when something ran him off the road. Car was smashed to pieces and the driver's door was wrenched right out of its hinges!" he told her, grinning broadly. "All they found was his head! Everything else was gone except for his wallet. They say that..."

Eddie's voice faded into the background noise as she read over the article, ignoring everything else around her. _Adam Flint, age 18, died late last night. Reports coming in protest a deer may have run into the side of the vehicle, maybe one big enough to tear the door off the hinges. All that remained of Adam consisted of a skull and wallet..._ Michelle looked up, confused. How could a deer do this much damage? Unless Adam had hit a herd of deer, it wasn't possible for something like that to happen, was it?

"Michelle?" She turned to look at him. "So what do you think happened?" Laughing, he fell into his seat. "Maybe it was Ryan's pterodactyl!" She gave him a half-hearted smile, then turned to face the front, frowning. What could've done this?


End file.
